Promises, Promises
by DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Summary: Ron must comfort his sister.


**Hey all! I'm doing a little reserve for a teammate, TQA, aka as TheQuietAwakening. Her prompt is to write about Ron and his relationship with one of his siblings. I had this little thing brewing in the back of my mind for a while now and this seems like a good time to use it! It's Chaser 1 for Wimbourne Wasps on QLFC btw.**

 **Note: Another Muggle AU!, and also a Hunger Games AU!**

 **Word count: 1017**

Ron was probably one of the few people not glad of a break from work on Reaping Day. Working kept his mind busy, and that was a good thing when so many thoughts whizzed around his mind. His friends called him a workaholic, Ron called it dedication and providing for his family. Although her mother primarily made up their income working at the electricity plant and made halfway decent money comparatively, Ron's own wages from the accounting statistics company he worked at were greatly appreciated.

"Ron, Ron, get up!" a teenage girls' excitable voice stage-whispered into his ear. Ron startled awake from the surprise, opening his eyes to see his thirteen-year-old sister Ginny standing with an excited expression on her face.

"Gin, what do you want?" he groaned, turning on his side to stare at her properly.

"Let's go for a run before we have to get ready for the reaping," she said. He had half expected this. Ever since he was twelve years old, and she eleven, Ginny had woken him up to go for a run with her. He did find that this helped get rid of some of his jitters, but he never let her see that.

"All right," Ron grumbled, sitting up and reaching to shoo her out of the room so he could dress decently. "Wait for me outside, would you?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and left the bedroom, leaving Ron in relative quiet. The only noises were the morning sounds of a few bird calls and a gentle wind. As he left, Ron shrugged off the covers and trudged across the bedroom, putting on the clothes he had on yesterday. Finally decent, he left his bedroom and the house, seeing Ginny waiting at the end of their small sidewalk. All the rest of the family was still asleep, and there was no need to bother them till it was time for breakfast.

"Let's go!" She was bursting with nervous energy, Ron knew very well. The two siblings began into a fast jog, making it a few streets before they slowed a little to catch their breath.

"I bet I can beat you to that big rock," Ron challenged, pointing out the rock to Ginny. It was a large one, about a quarter mile ahead on the dusty track. Ginny eyed it with concentration.

Nodding, she began their countdown. "Three… two… one! Go!"

They took off, sprinting as fast as they could to reach the boulder. Ginny pulled ahead almost at the end, slapping the rock with her hand as she passed it first.

"Haha, you lose Ron!" Ginny laughed, her high voice making him very happy. He knew that they didn't have many opportunities to just laugh, and was glad of it now.

"Yeah, yeah," he shrugged it off. It never mattered to him that Ginny was a better runner than he was. He didn't see a practical point to her pastime, but she was well on the path to be a star on the high school track team in a couple years.

They both climbed up onto the rock, breathing heavily as they listened to rustling branches.

"Ron?" Ginny's voice had now turned vulnerable. Ron looked at her, wondering what she wanted to ask him. "Are you going to get reaped today? You have a lot of entries."

Ron had a total of thirty-five entries because she had taken full tessera rations since she had been eligible, but Ginny did not need to know that. Fred, George, and Percy had more entries than he did. Bill and Charlie had families of their own now to worry for. Ginny and he were closest, however, so it was him that she worried for now.

"Yeah, I do have a lot of entries, but not so many more than lots of other guys," he reminded her. "My odds are just about the same as almost all the other guys my age. I'm going to be fine. Even if I do get picked, I'm pretty strong and quick, so I can definitely make it back here." He was not at all confident of this, but he wouldn't tell Ginny that either. Better that she had a small sense of hope, no matter how futile.

"I guess," she said, worry still in her tone. "I just don't want you to go away. You're the only one who runs with me." That was true. Fred and George did stuff together, and Percy was too old for what he called, "silly games."

Ron gave her a tight hug. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

There was a third thing he would not tell Ginny. This was not a promise she could guarantee. But they didn't have to think about that right now. Right now, it was time to go and make something for breakfast, as it was their turn.

"Let's figure out what we're having for breakfast, all right?" Ron said to her. Ginny nodded. They sat and caught their breaths for a moment longer before heading back.

In the small kitchen at their house, the two of them bustled around as quietly as they could, making some toast with a small scrape of jam, some fruit, and milk from the neighbor's cow. It was a decent breakfast by any accounts, and the two stared, proud of what they had done together.

Ron was about to head upstairs and start waking everyone else when Ginny placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Ron…" she stopped before she continued, seeming to need to figure out the proper words for what she wanted to say. Finally, she finished, "...what if it's not you? What if it's me?"

Ron didn't expect this from cool, usually confident and effervescent Ginny. It was like her to worry about the others, but she never worried about herself very much. Ron knew that he had to come up with something to reassure her.

"If you get chosen, I'll volunteer. I don't care about the rules. I promise that."

And he found that this was a promise he would definitely keep.


End file.
